Data Check: Anies Wants Indonesia to Determine Regional and Global Directions, What is the Current Condition?

Presidential candidate number one, Anies Baswedan, pledged to make Indonesia a decisive force on both regional and global scales.

He made this statement during the third 2024 Presidential and Vice-Presidential Debate, themed "Defense, Security, International Relations, and Geopolitics," held at Istora Senayan, Jakarta, on Sunday (7/1/2024).

In the vision-mission presentation session, Anies stated, "If you, the people, entrust us with your confidence, then God willing, we will restore Indonesia to its position as a major player in the global constellation," he said.

"Indonesia will not be a mere spectator, but a determinant of peace and prosperity for all nations at the regional and global levels. We plan to leverage our cultural, artistic, and economic strengths to shape the world stage," Anies said.

According to the *Asia Power Index 2023* from the Lowy Institute, Indonesia currently holds a middle power status in Asia. It is not weak, but still far from superpower level.

The Lowy Institute defines power as a nation's ability to influence the behavior of other states, non-state actors, and international events.

They assess the strength of major Asian nations through eight key indicators:

1. Economic capability;
2. Military capability;
3. National resilience/stability;
4. Future resources;
5. Economic networks;
6. Defense networks;
7. Diplomatic influence; and
8. Cultural influence.

Their assessment is formulated into a score on a scale of 0-100. A score of 0 indicates very weak influence, and a score of 100 indicates very strong influence, with the following categorization:

* Score 0—10: weak (minor power)
* Score >10—70: middle power
* Score >70: very strong (super power)

Using this method, in 2023 Indonesia achieved a score of only 19.4 out of 100.

Despite being classified as a middle power in Asia, Indonesia's influence is still weaker than that of China, Japan, India, South Korea, and Singapore.